I was looking at the airbus site the other day and was suprised to see that the forward sections center section and nose section, have been completed. They showed pics of the actual completed sections but what really got me was looking at the nose section with the cockpit windows. And i just said to myself, wow, this thing is REAL. its actually there it exists. Airbus says that its first flight is scheduled for fourth quarter 2004. It seems that airbus once known as the little company that could is bringing itself up highly. They've earned my respect today. Like boeing with its 747 in the past, airbus is taking a big risk. Ofcourse the same thing that was said about the 747(it would never happen) was said about the A380, and look what happened.Just wanted to add my 2 cents....

any other thoughts are welcomed too

>Ofcourse the same thing that was said about the 747(it would never happen) was said about the A380, and look what happened.The A380 is yet to happen :)

"The A380 is yet to happen"Apart from the minor details that the construction facilities are all built and operational and the first aircraft are on the production line!! ;)

>Apart from the minor details that the construction facilities are all built and operational and the first aircraft are on the production line!! So things like flight tests and hundreds of hours of testing every system happened already? Interesting

>They've earned my respect today. Like boeing with its 747 in>the past, airbus is taking a big risk. Highly debatable. Boeing was definitely putting company on the line when they launched the 747 project. Is Airbus risking the same ? I doubt. They enjoy too many "state" privilages to risk anything - they definitely are not risking their very existence.Michael J.